In U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,881 granted Feb. 12, 1980, assigned to the same assignee as the present application, a container outlet is disclosed including a generally cone-shaped housing extending upwardly into the container, and including radially spaced outer openings in the cone for lading to flow out of the container. A cone valve is located within the housing containing spaced openings which align with the outer openings in the cone housing when the cone valve is in open position. A liner of low friction material is attached to the outer surface of the cone valve and/or the inner surface of the cone housing. The cone valve is rigidly attached to a vertically extending shaft which is journaled for rotation in a bearing in the cone housing. A hub extends radially outwardly from the lower portion of the shaft to the cone valve. The cone valve is rotatable to a closed position in which the valve body closes the openings located in the cone valve housing.
However, the hub disclosed in this application extends into the flow path of lading flowing out of the outlet. Thus the hub tends to reduce the rate of unloading achievable with a given size outlet. Also, this hub provides an area where lading can hang up.
Furthermore, in the embodiment where an unloading spout is used to unload the lading, the mounting arrangement for the unloading spout and the cone valve assembly includes a skid which adds weight and expense to the outlet.